Chapter 59: Seeking a Master

While I was washing the teapot, the water came to a boil. I poured the hot water into the teapot and waited for the tea to steep.

Old Hai adjusted his large spectacles and waited for me to speak, clearly regarding this matter as something of great importance.

I did not understand the origin of Old Hai's question, but before such a senior figure, deception was meaningless. So, I said, "Old Hai, to be honest with you, Zhang Yidan's original name was Zhang Yuanyi. He was my childhood friend from Little Yi Village, someone I grew up with. We knew each other inside and out. If what happened back then in the Yin-Yang realm wasn't just a dream, then the person I saw was definitely him, not the Daoist priest Li you mentioned."

"Oh... Then this coincidence is quite remarkable. When you first mentioned that name back then, I specifically asked Daoist Priest Li about it later. Although he acted completely baffled, there was definitely a solemn look in his eyes. It seems this Daoist Priest Li Poxiao has a rather fascinating identity. Could it be that your friend is hiding his true capabilities and intends to show himself to you under a different identity?" Old Hai pinched his somewhat rounded chin, his clear eyes growing slightly puzzled.

"What?! Li Poxiao?" I exclaimed. Li Poxiao? That day outside the graveyard in Little Yi Village, when a cenotaph was erected for Zhang Yidan, it was precisely him who stole the corpse! Could this Li Poxiao be some powerful demon or ghost capable of borrowing a corpse to resurrect his soul?

"Indeed. When he sought me out back then, he claimed to be a distant relative of the Li family, Li Poxiao, a successor of the Qiankun Sect, and demanded that I immediately take him to the Yin-Yang realm to handle a major matter. This affair was of vital importance, concerning life and death, and was far from ordinary. I figured that the Li family is the most orthodox among the four major esoteric clans in the county. Moreover, Daoist Priest Li Poxiao brought a token of the Li family. Since I owe a favor to the Li family, I took on this task." Old Hai spoke, subtly reminding me that he was brought along by Li Poxiao under his command, and the other party's identity was by no means ordinary.

"To tell you the truth, Old Hai, Zhang Yuanyi already died in Little Yi Village. A pair of scissors bound with a soul-sealing talisman pierced his chest. Both Xiaoxue and I witnessed it with our own eyes. However, because an accident occurred at the time, we didn't bury him immediately. When we returned, his corpse had already vanished, leaving only a cenotaph behind. The name inscribed on the spirit tablet was Li Poxiao!" I tried my utmost to maintain my composure, but when I picked up the teapot, my hand was still trembling slightly with agitation.

"You mean... borrowing a corpse to return the soul?!" Old Hai's mouth dropped open, and the sip of tea he had just taken almost sprayed onto my face.

"Yes, I think it's very likely. Since you are well-versed in Yin-Yang arts, you should know the inner workings of this, right? He even left words on the tombstone like 'No attachments in life, no trace in death,' which suggests he must have known that the body was an empty shell, as Zhang Yuanyi's soul had already been scattered by Granny's soul-sealing talisman." I nodded in response, hoping to glean some information from him. If Li Poxiao dared to borrow a corpse to resurrect a soul, I would risk my life to take back Zhang Yidan's body.

"Little brother Xia, how much do you know about soul-sealing talismans? Since it seals the soul, it doesn't actually scatter the nether soul, does it? At most, it temporarily seals the soul within the talisman paper. A master who understands how to break talismans can forcibly lift it. Even without lifting it, staying in a place heavy with Yin energy will cause it to lose its effect over time. Besides, Senior Zhou Ying excels in the Ghost-Raising sect's art of nurturing ghosts and the talismanic techniques for summoning them, rather than this kind of Quanzhen sealing talismanic art, right? I imagine that if this talisman came from Senior Zhou Ying's hand, and the target possessed a powerful soul, though the talisman could seal it temporarily, it would quickly be undone and might no longer be effective. Have you ever considered this?" Old Hai said with an enigmatic expression, prompting me to recount the detailed sequence of events.

"Old Hai, you mean..." I froze instantly. Put that way, Zhang Yidan's soul might very well not have vanished at the time. And what about the vengeful corpse Zhou Xuan? Did that also mean the soul-sealing talisman couldn't completely contain her? Was that why Granny had Zhang Yidan retrieve the scissors Zhou Xuan had used?

What about the scissors with the soul-sealing talisman? As soon as I thought of this, half my body turned cold. Back at the graveyard, all my attention had been focused on the fact that Zhang Yidan was gone, and I completely neglected the scissors!

According to Granny's journal, after she began her journey in the Jianghu, she visited renowned masters far and wide and learned many talisman-making methods. Unfortunately, constrained by the limitations of her own Daoist lineage, there were many talismans she could not draw, such as the Nether-Crossing talismans, all of which had to be obtained from orthodox masters.

There were also talismans meant to summon the Heavenly Soldiers of Dingjia. If the person drawing such talismans had not received an official commission and lacked the rank of a general, they had no right to command spiritual soldiers, rendering the drawing of talismans mere painting.

To say nothing of the distant ones, let's take the close ones, like Old Hai. The Yin-Yang masters they serve are the ancient deities, Donghuang Taiyi, borrowing the power of those ancient deities. If I wanted to borrow Donghuang's power without receiving his commission, why would the deity pay attention to me? Simple incantation talismans might be possible, but advanced ones were out of the question.

Therefore, practitioners were divided into orthodox and unorthodox traditions. The orthodox ones all had a lineage master to initiate them, formally petitioning the deities for recognition before possessing the means to craft talismans and cast spells.

The unorthodox could only use lower-tier arts or employ talismanic seals passed down by orthodox practitioners.

Take me, for instance. The true Daoist lineage of the Zhou family does not reside in me; it rests with Granny, Zhou Xuan, and the blood relatives of the Zhou family.

How did Zhou Xuan sweep through the younger generation of the Daoist network, turning the Daoist disciples upside down? It was precisely because the Zhou family excelled at summoning ghosts, using that as a foundation to nurture fierce ghosts. As a direct descendant of the Zhou family, she deeply grasped the subtlety of the Zhou family's arts. She was naturally destined to be a second Demon Lord Zhou; how could she not be formidable?

Therefore, even if I knew the drawing methods for many ghost-summoning and ghost-driving talismans, I could not command them. I was merely a novice, capable of driving away ghosts only through some superficial skills.

Fortunately, through a quirk of fate involving Wife Elder and Granny, I bypassed the step of needing formidable strength to subdue fierce ghosts, taking Xijun and Song Wanyi under my command. Moreover, since I am proficient in Granny's secret arts of ghost-raising, I could raise and command them without needing to revere any deity or receive their true orthodox lineage.

Consequently, someone like me who has never received a pure orthodox lineage—though unskilled in summoning ghosts—nevertheless commands fierce ghosts. Calling it the Ghost-Raising Sect is not too much of a disgrace to the Zhou family.

Similarly, lacking the orthodox lineage, I cannot summon the legendary powerful ghosts of the lineage, such as Ghost Kings. Thus, I suffered a heavy defeat when fighting against others using spells.

If Granny had initiated me into the Dao back then, accepting me into the orthodox lineage—from minor ghosts useful for scouting and patrol to Ghost Kings capable of instantly crushing enemies—I wouldn't need to fear anyone like Wu Zhenghua, nor would Wife Elder have needed to step in to help subdue Xijun and Song Wanyi.

Of course, I couldn't expect to ask the Zhou family to impart their lineage to me, as that did not fit my current situation.

"Well, tell me the whole story from beginning to end. Perhaps I can help you sort these matters out. You are only half a person of the esoteric world—you haven't truly entered the Dao, yet you are deeply embroiled in esoteric affairs. Your situation is truly awkward," Old Hai repeated his previous remark that I was only half an esoteric person.

Old Hai was a true expert, and his words convinced me completely. Although I controlled very powerful fierce ghosts, I lacked a Daoist lineage. It was like a child holding a precious sword—capable of killing enemies, yet devoid of the ability to protect oneself.

"Alas, I ask Old Hai to help me. The matter is like this..." I had no choice but to bite the bullet and recount everything, starting from going to mourn Granny at Little Yi Village all the way up to the present events.

"You have driven tigers and devoured wolves without inheriting a Daoist lineage; your allotted lifespan was exhausted, yet you died and came back to life. That makes things much more interesting. No wonder Daoist Priest Li Poxiao, when bidding me farewell before entering the City God's temple that day, said that you are not an esoteric person, yet you tread upon esoteric affairs, daring to nurture soul-devouring ghost generals and mountain-dwelling fierce ghosts, and even letting nether souls break into the netherworld. He said disaster will inevitably arise in the future, and he intended to clip your wings before the disaster struck, before discussing anything else. Therefore, my return this time also carries the intent to persuade you to leave this county and seek refuge elsewhere to avoid the storm," Old Hai said, frowning as he listened.

So Li Poxiao already harbored the intention to eliminate me. I felt a surge of burning rage toward this person. You, Li Poxiao, stole Zhang Yidan's corpse to resurrect your own soul, and I haven't even settled accounts with you yet; instead, you are so eccentric as to want to destroy my Xijun and Song Wanyi. You truly have no regard for your life.

"Old Hai, you must know the ins and outs of my situation. My allotted lifespan is exhausted. If I don't die now, I might lose my life any day. Moreover, Granny has been locked inside the Blood Cloud Coffin, and I am bound to follow that old path of Yin Feng Town. Do you think you could take me as a disciple and impart the Yin-Yang family's spells to me? Allow me to avert disaster, turn misfortune into fortune, and stay away from peril?" I asked Old Hai with utmost sincerity.

Old Hai had walked out of the Dead Town using Yin-Yang arts, mastering everything from astrology and divination to casting spells and sealing hand seals. Yesterday, he had even fought Wu Zhenghua to a standstill using his magic, which was genuine skill. If I could learn a thing or two, it would alleviate my crisis. Now that my allotted lifespan was exhausted, if the City God down below summoned me again, I might never return.

"Leading you into the Dao is not difficult. I originally have no disciples or followers anyway, and purely based on your relationship with Senior Zhou Ying, taking you in as my disciple is only right and proper... But my abilities are truly humble. Ever since I was young, due to playfulness, I failed to learn even a tenth of my master's skills. Furthermore, the entity behind you is by no means ordinary. No, no, I think you should look for someone else capable. As for the matter of your allotted lifespan, I actually have a method to mitigate it long ago. Look here..." As Old Hai spoke, he shook his head, his old face flushing somewhat red.

"Old Hai, I have witnessed your skills. How can you call them humble? Please, take me as your disciple!" Seeing that his tone had softened somewhat, I immediately picked up a cup of tea and offered it to him.

Old Hai's expression grew somewhat nervous. He stretched out his hand to stop the tea and hurriedly said, "I said no means no, little brother Xia. If I take you as a disciple, you know very well that the entity behind you is no ordinary being. Am I in such a rush to die?"

"If you insist on bowing, bow to my master instead. We can address each other as fellow apprentice brothers, which is close enough. Anyway, my master is already dead, so if the entity behind you brings down wrath, we won't have to fear being unable to bear it. Besides, I am only responsible for leading you into the Yin-Yang family's Daoist lineage, but I will not impart spells to you. I will only give you the books my master passed down for you to study on your own. If you don't understand something, you can ask me. Of course, I must state beforehand that I don't understand many of these things myself, so don't expect me to be able to answer everything."

Hearing this, how could I possibly be unwilling? That was the Daoist lineage of the Yin-Yang family, something I had coveted for a long time. I immediately called out, "Senior Brother Hai!"

Anyway, Old Hai was not someone who lorded his seniority over others. This time, I had truly struck a stroke of great fortune. With Old Hai as my senior apprentice brother, wasn't that like borrowing the tiger's skin to wave a mighty banner?